Over the past 2 months I've developed some pain in my joints and in other areas of my body including under my rib cage and directly under my sternum. I went to the doctor when it began and they did several blood tests, and a chest xray and found nothing abnormal.

The past few weeks I've developed some cracking/popping in my joints. As of now, my wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, ankles, and fingers are all making cracking noises. I understand the occasional pop is not cause for concern but if I sit down for maybe 2 minutes and stand up my knees crack...all my joints crack constantly (especially the elbows and shoulders) and its not extremely painful or anything but its very annoying and worrying me, especially since its developed so rapidly and seems worse day by day.

If you by chance still check out the message boards. I too have the same cracking in my chest and ribs. And now in my elbows knees and everywhere else. I've had it since last year and no one can seem to find the cause of it. I heard from a co-worker that he knew a guy that just recently died, the cause was a rare form of bone cancer that seems to always start in the sturnum and spread out to the ribs and eventually to the joints, etc... He had the same symptoms I'm having. If you're still out there, let me know if you or anyone else has found the cause and cure for the constant cracking and aching; because after hearing about that guy with cancer, i'm freaking out. If anyone has any info or ideas at all on the matter, please send it my way, i've suffered for a year now and i'm starting to get really worried.

Wow Jeremy thats pretty scary. I've never heard of that before but I wouldn't panic just yet. I've snapped crackled and popped since in my teens. My joints also make a loud thunk when I sublex them, primarly my shoulder or collar bone.

My problem stems from both OA and a genetic syndrome called Ehlerdanlos Syndrome where the collagen is defunct. It causes joints to sublex and dislocate in addition to many other problems with muscles, ligaments, skin and organs.

Oftentimes most snap, crackle and pops generally turn out to be torn cartilage, loose joints (such as EDS) or aging, ligaments snapping back into place and arthritis. There are probably a few other reasons as well. Sometimes as we age our joints loosen up some just by natural causes and this too can be a culprit. Some individuals with FMS also have these similiar symptoms. So in fact it may not be this rare cancer it could be an abundance of things.
I think the thing to watch for is if those symptoms accompany severe pain, swelling or redness that it may deem further investigation.

For what it's worth, I've had OA for 28 years, I am now 38, and rarely ever have I ever had a blood work up turn out to be anything but normal. In fact you would never know I had OA in so many joints if you were looking at the bloodwork alone. My SED rate is always below 10 unless I am having an excruciating flare up. Bloodwork and Xrays are not always accurate, especially in early stages of some forms of arthritis.

I know it is so frustrating for a doctor to say you are perfectly fine when you have various symptoms. Sometimes a visit to a highly qualified rhuemy is what it takes to get confirmation. Sometimes you just end up never knowing what it is and accept it as a daily part of life.

I went to the doctor several times, eventually discovering that the "rib cage" pain was most likely caused by a problem with my stomach. The doctor mentioned gastritis..I've been taking prevacid for months now and that seems to work wonders..no rib pain at all, stomach pain rare.

As far as my joints, I went to a rheumatologist and he examined me pretty thoroughly. He said that it didn't appear as though I had arthritis anymore..but he could see that damage had been done. He also concluded that I had Bursitis and possibly Fibromyalgia. He was very concerned with my sleeping habits and even had my mother come and watch me while I sleep. He wants me to spend the next 2-3 years getting back on a normal sleeping pattern because a good sleeping pattern is essential for your body to heal itself.

I've changed my entire lifestyle very much since then. I started exercising several times per week on a Bowflex I purchased and I now use my Nordic Track 20 minutes per day in addition to that. I changed my eating habits too and I've completely eliminated "Junk" food from my diet. I have to say I do feel infinitely better than I did. I've lost 80 lbs and gained a lot of muscle from the Bowflex.

My joints still crack a lot. Pain and stiffness is minimal with Vioxx. Some days they feel better than others (today not so hot, it's raining out). Some days they seem to crack less as well. For the most part I can completely ignore it and go on with my daily activities.

I went to a followup appointment with the Rheumatologist..he was happy about my progress and said it looks like I'm the path to recovery. He wants me to eventually stop taking the Vioxx which I hope I can do.

I should also note that the underlying cause of my joint problems seemed to be a severe infection in one of my toes..which is now taken care of.

Anyway, all I can say is take care of yourself and don't ignore medical conditions.

Im in the same boat . Except I have been having major pain as of late . I think also I have some sort of thyroid disorder . Everything pops .......and 5 mins. later everything pops again . Toes, Ankles ,fingers , elbows , Knees , back , most of my pain is in the shoulders ....sometimes more-so in one shoulder than the other . The constantly crack and it hurts . I heard it al before , just stop poping them , but its the only relief I get . Medication doesnt work . Atleast nothing I have tried . As for the possible thyroid problem ....Im having serious skin issues . Rashes ..Acne ..on my arms .....back and shoulders . My sides also . I have alot of anxiety .....I never sleep well . The only time I do is when I take something . Heat intolerence ......Fatigue and thats even when Im rested . I played sports all my life ......I have never been a weakling , but I fear that is changing . Im depressed all the time and Im in pain all the time . Even when I work out I feel worse . I never get the good endorfins I use to get ........Most days I feel like I have had my a** kicked before I even go out the door . Any advice ? I dont know how much more of this I can take .

I am glad to hear things worked out. I am new here and just read your post, I felt the same way and still do. I am 26, in good health with arthritis EVERYWHERE! I have it in my ankles, knees, hips, back, elbows, wrists, and now shoulders. While most of these things don't cause pain, the left knee has really been bothering me. I pop all day now. Of course, I hyperextended both knees in 1995 while cheerleading, which b/c I did that for 7 years and was the "base" and lifted everyone, is probably the reason I have the arthritis now. My back is from the back surgery I had two years ago. I saw PT and they said probably have an old injury to my Left ACL. Never had MRI on it so don't know. BUT, now my back pain is returning, I have a injury to my neck/shoulder muscles and my knee is killing me! I haven't even been to work in two weeks! Well, I just wanted to express there are def others out there, and I am happy all worked out for you. Sorry if this post is a little out there.

OMG! I'm so glad I found this board! I thought I was the only freak out there that constantly pops and cracks every single joint in my body. Everyone looks at me and tells me to stop, but they can't understand that if I don't pop, then I'm in pain. It's been going on since 1997 when I was working out one day and my shoulder popped. I was in agony, and since that day, every single joint pops every single day. NO meds help at all unless they're the type to make me a zombie. I have found some relief with marijuana, but I can't be doing that all day either. It does help to sleep at night and relieve the pressure in the joints (no pun intended).

I was diagnosed w/ fibromyalgia a few years back, but wasnt' really sure if that was accurate or not since there are really no tests. Lately though I've noticed an increase in my symptoms and ANY amount of stress makes it so much worse. I try to pace myself, but I'm also a workaholic, so that tends to affect it.

I am 26 now as of december 17th. I have always had cracking in my knees, constant in my toe joints and in one finger. I get the the occassional rare crack in other joints up untill two months ago. Which is what lead me here. I start experiencing very frequent cracking in my upper/middle rib cage combined with cracking in the shoulders. It was strange because it seemed almost over night. That is why I decided to investigate a bit for myself as to if I thought it were a concern. The only one which causes me pain would be the one in the chest but it only seems to happen if I am sleeping on my side, it's when I go to turn over that the crack snapple pop and slight pain happens (muscle pinching as the bones seem to re-align themselves)....

I have been doing regular irregular Kundalini Yoga for about two years now. When I manage to keep up the Yoga I notice that any complaints my body is experiencing begins to rapidly leave. For the time being I have decided that I should not be alarmed by my cracking and I will just try to make sure I am doing my Yoga regularly (because over the past two months I have not been doing it as regularly as I should) and see if that helps the additional cracking I have been experiencing. The yoga definately reduces the knee cracking (which always been a huge issue) for me.

I thought I would mention this for those who might want to try out Yoga.

Something else that might be of some interest to you folks;

I grew up as a teenager having to take care of my mother who's health has dramatically gotten worse. I took on my mother's stress load which created health issues of my own. For myself it's been a combination of diet change, yoga and over all learning how to not stress out that has made the difference for self healing.

My mother's health is currently diagnosed as having Arthritis, (can't spell the following word) syatic nerve damage, fibromyalgia, Irratable Bowl Syndrome and a few other complications. It orignally started as one small health issue that just cascaded from one to the other. The fibromyalgia attacked her stomach at one point leaving her in a state of inability to diagest food for an entire year; she was seeing one specialist after the other, they had her on a drug that forced her to keep her food down but it wasn't going anywhere but instead sitting there like a lump = it got to the point the doctors said we're sorry but there's nothing more that we can do for you.... she looked like a holocaust victom at that point.... so she decided; what the hell, I got nothing to loose and went and saw a genuine traditional chinese doctor (barely speaks english and was 83 at that time) = he had her eating normally within a few days and was directly responsible for getting her diagestion back on track and reducing the effects of the fibromyalgia.... the only problem was that the herbal prescriptions (which he constantly re-adjusted based upon her response and changes) were costing approx $100 - $200 a month depending on the needs of that month; she was only able to keep it up for 6 months but it worked miracles....

both myself and my mother have continued to explore alternative health which has resulted in many mini-miracles (which I will not get into at this time); although neither of us have ever had the money to up keep most alternative health (with the exception of the trading I am able to do here and there and some of my own alternative health training) I am a firm believer that the key to one's good health and ability to heal is in using a combination of alternative health mixed with western science. I recommend though that you always go as natural as you can and don't be scared of your body even when it's doing scary things.

A Note I leave you with that may help you on your path of self-healing;

Scientifically = on the molecular level, every seven years we have a completely new body. So why do we continue to have a new body that has all the old health issues?

Every cell in your body has all the information in it that it needs to make anything, be it a hair nail or skin, all the information is there... in addition to that programming (that is what it is; it is cellular & genetic memory/programming), there is all the information contained from your ancestors, plus your own information acquired through out your life, your belief systems and more..... but, most of that lies dormant....

The physical is made up of cells that are made up of molecules which are made up of atoms which we all know is energy

thought is energy

emotion is energy

movement is energy

your body believes what your mind believes but the body fights to hold onto it's programs even when the mind is ready to release unneeded programs.... and all that programming acts like the layers of an onion in many respects and the same programs can sometimes be recreated layer after layer belief upon belief....

So
why does the body continue to re-create all the old injuries in a body that is new every seven years on the molecular level?

the trick I have learned is to first get comfortable with your body and it's movements... if you panic when something of bad health happens, then your body panics in response.... your body is intelligent and doesn't need our minds to think for it.... if you teach your body that it can heal itself, then you increase your body's chances of natural self healing which in turn strengthins your immune system and any other number of chain reactions I am sure you can put two and two together....

the possiblity to create self miracles with the power of the mind is there; will you reach it in your lifetime? maybe, maybe not...

postive thinking = positive energy

mind over matter does definately help though to boost any efforts to help your health and it is a compliment to western medicine; not compotition (there's my terrible spelling again)

so anyways I hope that food for thought helps you in your journey.....

oh yeah
maybe the reason children always seem to rebound so well from bad health isn't just because they are young and their cells are young but maybe it's because they believe they are going to be just fine in the long run and instead don't focus too much on what's wrong, dont' get scared but continue to strive for an appreciation for life instead

Yes some cholesteral medications can cause detrioration but there are also very many other factors such as weight, over use of the joint, old injuries, genetic and collagen disorders and arthritis as well as steriodal treatments
Sometimes its very hard to pin down the exact reason.

If your popping and cracking is followed by joint sublexation and or dislocations theres a good chance one would have a collagen disorder or defunct collagen as it were.